


oh baby this is not an illusion (there's magic between you and me)

by analog



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Magical Realism, Multi, Slow Build, Vampire Zayn, Werewolf Niall
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 18:38:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15006938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/analog/pseuds/analog
Summary: a modern magic au where harry and louis are mages, niall is a werewolf, zayn is a vampire (and liam is his human boyfriend).





	oh baby this is not an illusion (there's magic between you and me)

**Author's Note:**

> hey y'all! this is my first fic.. ever. i started it so so so long ago, and i barely have anything to show for it, but that's okay! anyway, just please be civil about it, i know it's not perfect, but i'm just human. also, i know the summary sucks, if anyone has any better ideas PLEASE hit me up. 
> 
> work title from one direction's 'illusion'. chapter title from one direction's 'i would'.

The tea kettle screamed, waking Harry up from the kitchen table where he was sleeping, head in his hands. “Shhhhhhhhhhhh…….” He trailed off quietly, brain pounding with the remnants of the night before. Harry waved his hand. The shrill shrieking stopped, silenced by its master’s call. A mug floated out of the cupboard (Harry’s least favorite one, just in case his concentration wavered and it smashed to the floor). The thick brew poured itself into the cup, the strong scent of cinnamon and cedar wafting through the kitchen. 

A hangover cure, its recipe perfected over the years of the Styles family using it, hovered unsteadily besides him. He reached out and grasped it, drinking it quickly. It wasn’t every day that Harry would be hungover like this, but it also wasn’t every day that your sister had a baby; he felt it was an acceptable thing to celebrate. Noticing the mid-afternoon light streaming through the windows, he glanced at the clock.

“Shit. Shit shit shit shit.” 

Harry was meant to bring Gemma some clothes, as her labor had been unexpected and neither she nor Michael, her fiancé, had time to pack anything besides things for the baby. His niece was fine, pink and screaming when she was born, but her early arrival was a bit of a shock. Harry was supposed to be there by 2:30, when his sister and niece were to be discharged. It was 2:15, and the hospital was ten minutes away. 

As rushed to put on clothes that didn’t smell like booze, Harry summoned his keys and poured the rest of his hangover potion into a travel mug. The day wasn’t starting off very well.  
\----  
“Harry, you know I love you, but I can’t trust you around Penelope until you’ve taken a safety course.” Harry slowly walked a gingerly waddling Gemma to her car, listening to her explanation on why he wasn’t allowed to babysit his niece any time in the near future. “You don’t know anything about first aid, and I need to know that my daughter will be safe with you if there’s a crisis,” she explained, stumbling a bit over the uneven hospital parking lot. 

Harry huffed, indignant that his sister didn’t trust him, but he still held out his arm for her to balance on. 

Gemma rolled her eyes at his childish reaction to her request. “Harry. If something happens, your love alone won’t be able to help her. You have to be at least competent in first aid.” 

He grumbled, but Gemma had made her point effectively; while she may have been an overprotective new mom, she was right. 

“My friend from secondary, Julie? Has a course running right now, I could get you a spot.”

“Sounds good.” They had reached Gemma and Michael’s car, where Michael was buckling his newborn daughter into a backwards facing seat, double checking that it was secure. 

“Babe, can you come here for a sec? I’m trying to enchant this clasp, but it’s not working?” Michael asked unsurely. Gemma toddled to the other side of her car, calling out for Harry to “at least consider taking the class!”

Harry took that as his cue to leave, mind running over what could happen that his love for his niece couldn’t solve.  
\----  
The Healing and Safety class was held on a Sunday night in a meeting room in an insurance agency; a building that was bleak from top to bottom, with dusty blue walls and a carpet that matched. Harry looked around at all of the others sitting at the ovular table- to his right, a girl with eyes like opals, reflecting rainbow with no pupils. Across from him was someone who he suspected may be a ghost, but could also just be a mage with social anxiety, wishing to be invisible and turning translucent unknowingly. The seat to Harry’s left was empty. 

Just as the instructor quieted the group’s small talk, a man shuffled through the doorway, clearly embarrassed to be interrupting, if the flush on his cheekbones was anything to go by. He scooted into the space next to Harry; when he set his coffee on the table, his chair squeaked loudly from the movement. The man cringed.

As soon as the group had officially begun (and the attention of the group was no longer on him), the stranger pulled out a small plastic eyedropper bottle labelled with ‘energizing’ in permanent marker. He took the lid off of his drink... and dumped the entire vial in.

Harry was alarmed, to say the least. He’d made energizing potions before, and assumed (because of the directions in the recipes) that you were really only supposed to ingest a few drops at a time. 

He was more than alarmed when the man started chugging his tea, downing it like his life depended on it.

“Um, excuse me,” Harry started, his voice a low whisper. “Are you okay?”

The man, who, despite his crow's feet, couldn’t be more than 24, responded mournfully. “I’m going to die,” he said, looking Harry straight in the face. “I’ve been up since three because my roommate kept the fact he’s a vampire from his boyfriend, and they’ve been fighting about ‘trust’ for hours. This is the longest I’ve been without sleep since Uni.”

The gears in Harry’s brain started going, “How many hours of sleep did you get?” He turned away from the speaker to look back at the man- who was sitting there with his eyes closed, head beginning to droop out of its upright position. Harry gave him a shake. The man jerked, making his chair creak again. His blue eyes snapped open.

Harry smiled at him, then turned back at the instructor, who was drawing different healing runes on the whiteboard. When she had given the go ahead to start practicing, Harry formally introduced himself to the handsome stranger sitting next to him. 

“I don’t think I got your name? I’m Harry, by the way.”

“My name’s Louis. Sorry for, you know. Barging in here like this.” The stimulating potion must’ve started to kick in, because his eyes seemed brighter, more awake, and the bags under his eyes had gotten less purple.

“It’s fine, really. Not sure the rest of ‘em care much, to be honest.”

The man- Louis, Harry reminded himself- went on to explain that he was taking the course because his vampire roommate didn’t eat anything but raw meat and that meant Louis had to cook all his own meals. Which meant frequent fires. The idea behind getting first aid training was that he could learn how to extinguish his oven more quickly, and heal himself when inevitably got burned.

“Why didn’t you go to the library and find a book on household magic? Or Google it? It’d be easier than trudging all the way here to learn a spell that might not even be in the curriculum.” 

Louis sighed, a frown briefly tugging at his mouth. “I haven’t exactly gotten out much lately. Thought it’d be nice to get some fresh air.” 

He didn’t elaborate beyond that, and Harry, feeling extremely curious but not brave enough to do anything about it, turned back to the instructor. The rest of the class was uneventful, and it didn’t help him keep from stealing glances at Louis. The man was interesting, with the way his eyes lit up every time he got an enchantment right, and how he kept licking his lips every time he was concentrating especially hard. Harry didn’t know what it was, but there was something... magnetic, about him.

As the class was packing up, he asked Louis if he thought his roomate and his boyfriend would break up over something like the fight they were currently having. “Honestly, it’ll probably blow over in a day; Liam’s not a bigot, he’s not got anything against vampires, he’s just surprised. Why do you ask?”

“No real reason. Just curious, I guess,” Harry said. ‘Curious about you’, he didn’t say.

Louis looked at the clock and his eyes widened almost imperceptibly. “Well I’ve got to go. It was nice meeting you Harry.” Then he fled the room as if he had somewhere more important to be. 

Harry briefly pondered over what Louis could be running to, and made his way out the door.  
\----  
The next week passed by, with Harry’s job (baristaing at a fae cafe) being as unpredictable as usual. Downtrodden folks came in ordering drinks they hoped would alter their lives- cappuccino with a shot of luck, iced latte with a splash of seductiveness. The faeries’ magic was much more powerful than any human mage’s, and thus the cafe was popular among those seeking change in their life. 

This was why Harry was surprised when Louis, the intriguing man from the first aid class, entered the cafe, eyes shifting around to the other patrons nervously. When he got up to the counter he flinched, as if he was just caught red handed. 

“Hi, what can I get you?” Harry wasn’t about to embarass himself of Louis by acting like he knew him, when, A, Louis might not have even remembered him, and B, may have been there to ask for some embarrassing trait in his drink, like ‘stamina in bed’ (a request Harry’s coworkers were disgusted to fulfill for many young men). 

“Um, I’d like a.... “ Louis trailed off, a faint, embarrassed blush appearing on his cheeks, “a chai latte with a shot of confidence, please,”

“Okay, that’ll be 4 quid.” Harry tried a reassuring smile, but was pretty sure it came across as condescending in actuality.

Louis handed him a five pound note with a faint smile of his own. “Thanks Harry.” He walked to the other counter to wait for his drink. 

Harry felt mildly ashamed for not acknowledging he knew Louis earlier, but then it was the next customer up at the counter, this one asking for “mental stability”. He passed the information along to his coworkers and clocked out for his break.

He snaked around the customers huddled around the drink counter and looked at the full tables. Noticing that there was an empty seat at the couch Louis was on, Harry’s stomach swooped with nerves and he felt himself walking towards the other man.

“Hi again. Do you mind if I sit? There doesn’t seem to be any free tables.” He shuffled his feet. 

Louis looked up from the book he was reading and hurriedly stuffed it in his bag. “Sure!” He exclaimed, a little too loud and a little too frantic for the occasion. “I mean, go ahead.”

Cautious not to touch Louis (as they were technically strangers), Harry slid around the coffee table and onto the sofa. “I’m sorry I didn’t say I recognized you when I took your order. It’s just that I wasn’t sure that you’d remembered me, and I didn’t want it to be weird, but I really do remember you, I just chose not to say it, but I’m rambling now, right? Ha..” Harry swore in his head. What was coming over him? Why was he acting like he was fourteen again? He was a twenty one year old man- maybe not a full adult yet, but certainly not a blushing, rambling teenager.

"It's okay?" Louis said, slightly unsure why this man was so on edge. "I didn't really expect you to remember, to be honest."

A slightly awkward silence filled the air after the exchange, neither man knowing quite what to say next. 

“So... You work here, yeah?” Louis asked. “Why? You aren’t a faerie, or at least don’t look it, with your height and all.” The confidence shot in his tea must’ve kicked in- it was very bold to assume someone’s supernatural status.

“Um, so my arithmancy professor at University is fae and she set me up with it? We got kind of close over the semester, and she liked me so much that she recommended me to the manager,” Harry motioned with his head to the corner, where his boss, Nick, was fluttering in place, staring (and looking very displeased) at the current cashier’s change-making skills. “I can’t enchant the drinks, because I’m not as powerful as the rest of the team, but I can be a cashier, so.” 

As Harry spoke, the nerves dissipated. Louis was just a guy. There wasn’t any need to be so nervous. “Also, just a side note, all of the talk about ‘not eating food that the fae give you’ is crap- this is a cafe, you paid for it, so they’ve gotten something in return- no need to curse you.”

“What a relief,” Louis joked, sipping his tea. 

The rest of Harry’s half hour break flew by in a gust of banter and anecdotes. Once the ice was broken, Harry found it much easier to talk to the other man, telling him about his niece and family and his studies to be a Curse Breaker, and listened to tales of Louis’s youth.

“And then Stan and I were climbing up this lady’s fence to impress her daughter, and he completely wipes out! Just falls straight off into some bushes. Casey, the girl, saw, and never spoke to him again after that. Poor lad was just trying to ask ‘er out and completely ruined his chances.”

Harry laughed, “and how’d she react to you?” 

“Well, she was the real first girlfriend I ever had, so I’d say it worked out in the end.”

Harry’s heart sank a little. So Louis was into girls, then. Of course, bi and pan people existed, but the way that Louis hadn’t mentioned any of his past flings to be male extinguished that possibility in Harry’s mind.

“You have a girlfriend now?” Harry regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. ‘Stop being weird’, he thought to himself. ‘That isn’t a casual question.’

Louis blushed and frowned, "no, I was seeing a girl for a while, but it didn't work out." He started to pick at his nails nervously.

'Shit', Harry thought to himself, 'I've gone and fucked this all up.' 

“That’s okay,” Harry said. “I don’t have a girlfriend either.” ‘And I don’t ever want one’, he left unsaid. 

“Look, your break is almost over, I should probably go,” Louis explained, getting up from the couch shakily. “Thanks for the conversation.” And with that, Louis nearly ran out of the cafe.

\-----

“Okay, but Niall, he’s hiding something- I’m not sure what, but there’s definitely something.” Harry paced around his bedroom the day after his run in with Louis. Niall, his best friend, was chatting with him through their enchanted mirrors. 

“Mate, relax. You’ve known this guy for what, a week? Five days? Of course he’s not going to be upfront and honest with you about everything.” Niall reclined back in his chair and scratched his hairy chest in thought. “Maybe he’s doing Dark Magic.” 

“Niall!”

“No, really. You said he was hiding the book he was reading from you? It could be on necromancy, or blood magic, or he could be making, like, illegal love potions to sell on the street. I’m just saying, you never know.”

Harry rolled his eyes and laughed. “Anywaaaaay. I really like him, even though he’s straight. I think I’m gonna ask him if he wants to go to the bar on Saturday? It’ll just be a platonic thing, he can bring friends if he wants. Super casual.”

Niall prompted Harry to remember that Saturday is the full moon, “so if you go, it’ll be alone with him. But that’ll be fine, seeing as its ‘super casual’,” he teased. 

“You’re sure there’s no way you can make it? Even when you’ve turned, you can’t just show up to the bar?” Harry pleaded, “His roommate is a vampire, so I doubt he minds lycanthropes.” 

“Careful with ya generalizing there- not all supernaturals are okay with each other. I may be your best friend, but I can still kick your ass.” Niall growled.

“Sorry, sorry. But you’re certain you can’t come?” Harry said resignedly. 

Niall ran a hand through his dark brown hair. “Yep. Me and Rory are going to a lake just outside of the city, and we’re gonna see if we can catch fish as our wolf-selves.”

“Fun.”

“Anyway, I should let you go, I’ve got to go pack a bag, because I’m staying at Barbara’s house tonight.” Niall waggled his eyebrows. 

Harry was mildly impressed. “Wow. Things are moving pretty fast with the two of you. How’s it feel not to be on your own anymore?” 

“Pretty good, pretty good! I like her a lot, ya know? But seriously, I've gotta go." Niall laughed to himself. “Good luck with Louis - it is Louis, right? I’ll be praying for you not to get love potioned, or whatever.”

Harry smiled. "Bye Neil." A ripple on Harry’s mirror signalled that Niall had hung up. Harry stopped his pacing and sat down on his bed. “Time to stalk” Harry murmured to himself. Pulling up the search bar on Instagram, he typed in ‘Louis’, then cursed because he didn’t know the man’s last name. Harry hit enter, hoping that one of his friends would already be following him. 

Louis was the fifth account on the list, as Harry and Louis had a shared acquaintance . His username was ‘@LouisT91’, and though he only had about 70 posts, Harry was glued to his phone for a solid half an hour, scrolling through Louis’s selfies and pictures with small children.

Already falling for him, Harry said his name aloud; "Louis Tomlinson."

\---- 

The next Healing and Safety class, Harry was ready; he was going to get Louis’s number even if it killed him. He had everything planned- he was going to casually go up to him, ask what his plans for next weekend are, and (even more casually) ask if he’d ever gone to Vision, the new bar that’d just opened up about four blocks away from Harry’s house, and hey, would he want to swap numbers and go sometime?

Harry was smooth. Harry was ... subtle, casual. Harry, whatever he was, was able to do this.

At least he thought he was able to do this. When it was time for the class to partner up to test their spells for healing abrasions. After he’d scraped his leg with a pumice stone as instructed, Harry looked up to find Louis talking to another man in the class, one who was as short as Louis himself. 

Not wanting to interrupt, Harry turned away dejectedly. He hadn’t made note of anyone else in the course, and thus didn’t make connections with anyone but Louis; this meant that his chances of people coming up to him to be partners were pretty slim. 

Just as he was having this thought, Louis looked over the other man’s shoulder at Harry and excused himself from the conversation. 

“Hey.” Louis smiled, “Had fun at the coffee shop a few days ago. Definitely felt more confident because of that drink- I may just have to go back.”

Harry blushed, because even though Louis wasn’t citing him as the reason why he wanted to go back, he still had a good enough experience not to be repulsed at the thought of spending more time with Harry. 

“You just might- after all, you haven’t tried our lucky scones yet. Day after I had my first one I found a tenner right on the ground.” Harry put on an American accent, “They’re legit.” 

Louis laughed and shook his head, eyes crinkling. ‘God, he’s beautiful’, Harry thought.

Noticing that all of the other groups were already moving on to the next activity, Harry rolled up his pant leg and exposed his scraped shin to Louis. Louis patted it down with a cotton round, glanced at the provided grimoire, then murmured the incantation. The abrasion rapidly healed itself, Harry’s skin forming a scab that promptly fell off to reveal shining new skin. 

“Sick.” Louis said proudly. 

The two men went through a few more spells until the clock struck 7:00. 

Harry started to speak; “Hey, so I was, um, wondering if you’d like to go out sometime?” Noticing how Louis’s eyes widened, he tried to rephrase, “I mean, you and anyone you’d like to bring along.” 

“I don’t know, Harry. That sounds great, but I’m honestly really busy. Like, all of the time.” His eyes looked pained. 

“So you’re saying you’re absolutely sure you can’t make it? Ever?” Harry joked dramatically. Maybe Harry was being a bit serious as well, but he deserved to be dramatic, alright, he was getting blown off by a man who very well may have turned out to be the love of his life.

(Maybe he could be the love of Harry’s life. Possibly. Who knows?)

Louis sighed. “Maybe I can sometime? I’d just need a really early heads up so I can plan for it.” 

Harry’s mind ran wild with the idea that he might actually be able to spend time with this seemingly perfect man. “Great, that sounds great. I’ll look forward to it.” Harry smiled, happiness radiating from his body, and Louis obviously picked up on it. 

Louis rolled up his sleeves, revealing sleeves of some small, doodle-like tattoos intermingled with others that looked more professionally done. “Hey, do you want my number? Just so you can get in touch with me outside of this class. And outside of the cafe, of course,” Louis said with a small smirk, noticing how Harry’s eyes were transfixed on his forearms.

“Yes!” Harry squeaked. “I mean, um, yeah,” he recovered, deepening his voice to compensate. He handed Louis his phone and continued to stare at the other man. Louis’s tattoos were obviously enchanted, as they weren’t static and instead moved around his arm. A paper airplane flew around a compass located on his inner elbow, whose needle spun until it stopped facing Harry’s direction. 

It pointed to the word ‘HOME’. 

Louis noticed and quickly rolled down his sleeve. His face flushed like he was embarrassed. 

“So I’ll see you around?” He said as he handed Harry back his phone, his voice sounding strangled. 

“Yeah, definitely.” Harry tried to calm the situation by smiling, but his ease just seemed to put Louis more on edge. 

Harry looked down to his phone (Louis had put himself in as ‘Louis’ with a smiley emoji), and when he picked his head up again, Louis was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> constructive criticism welcome! i am planning to continue this story, but how often i post will be (very heavily) influenced by the type of response i get on here. i also will be updating the tags with each chapter, but the warnings and rating will remain the same. 
> 
> so... yeah! hope you enjoyed chapter 1!


End file.
